Wheel Vibration at 85mph+ (after Spacer Install)

[RElias21]

***SEE MY UPDATE IN MY LAST POST BELOW***

Hi Folks, I have a bit of a complicated fact pattern here that's been driving me nuts.

I bought MS spacers (preowned) over the winter and installed them on my OEM 513 winter set and everything was great.

A few months later, I removed the 513s and put the 666s on with the same spacers and started to notice wheel vibration around 85+ mph. I had never noticed any wheel vibration with my 666s before.

I proceeded to remove the 666s multiple times, cleaning the hub and the spacers and reinstall and still get the vibration.

I then bought summer tires for my 513s and installed those with the MS spacers - same vibration at 85+.

I then bought NEW BMS spacers and installed those on the 513s with the summer tires and STILL - same vibration at 85+.

I drove BOTH the 513s and the 666s without the spacers (for a short period of time) and no vibration. I'm going to try to take the spacers off again and drive without them for a more extended period of time to confirm no vibration.

Assuming that's the case, what could be the issue here?

I clean the spacers and the hub very well.
I put the proper lugs on in a star like manner.
I torque them to 105 ft-lbs.

I even use wheel pins when doing the install to make sure the spacer is well-centered.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I've now tried two sets of wheels and two sets of spacers.

I'm running out of ideas, but the car looks really lame without the spacers.
Just in case this may be of any importance, I'm on MP-HAS (for about 6 months without issue pre-spacers) and my car only has about 15k miles on it.

Thanks!

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by RElias21

Hi Folks, I have a bit of a complicated fact pattern here that's been driving me nuts.

I bought MS spacers (preowned) over the winter and installed them on my OEM 513 winter set and everything was great.

A few months later, I removed the 513s and put the 666s on with the same spacers and started to notice wheel vibration around 85+ mph. I had never noticed any wheel vibration with my 666s before.

I proceeded to remove the 666s multiple times, cleaning the hub and the spacers and reinstall and still get the vibration.

I then bought summer tires for my 513s and installed those with the MS spacers - same vibration at 85+.

I then bought NEW BMS spacers and installed those on the 513s with the summer tires and STILL - same vibration at 85+.

I drove BOTH the 513s and the 666s without the spacers (for a short period of time) and no vibration. I'm going to try to take the spacers off again and drive without them for a more extended period of time to confirm no vibration.

Assuming that's the case, what could be the issue here?

I clean the spacers and the hub very well.
I put the proper lugs on in a star like manner.
I torque them to 105 ft-lbs.

I even use wheel pins when doing the install to make sure the spacer is well-centered.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I've now tried two sets of wheels and two sets of spacers.

I'm running out of ideas, but the car looks really lame without the spacers.
Just in case this may be of any importance, I'm on MP-HAS (for about 6 months without issue pre-spacers) and my car only has about 15k miles on it.

Thanks!

Have you had wheels checked to make sure they are balanced? Spacers will only exaggerate what is already present.

Make sure rear hub face on the wheel is completely clean of rust/debris also.

[RElias21]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Have you had wheels checked to make sure they are balanced? Spacers will only exaggerate what is already present.

Make sure rear hub face on the wheel is completely clean of rust/debris also.

Thanks for responding Tom, as I know you are one of the experts here on this.

The 513s were just balanced when I had the summers put on. The shop did not indicate any issues with the balance, although I guess it was not a "Road Force" balance. The 666s are the original wheel/tire combo, which never had any issue before.

I guess I will exhaust all my options before getting a strict Road Force balance (if that is what you suggest).

I will try to install again, this time cleaning both the face of the hub and the inside face of the contact area of the wheel.

Two Questions: (1)On what surfaces should I be applying anti-seize? (2) Do you tighten the lugs all the way to 105 before they touch the ground? If so, How do you do that one front wheels, which rotate?
I'll report back.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by RElias21

Thanks for responding Tom, as I know you are one of the experts here on this.

The 513s were just balanced when I had the summers put on. The shop did not indicate any issues with the balance, although I guess it was not a "Road Force" balance. The 666s are the original wheel/tire combo, which never had any issue before.

I guess I will exhaust all my options before getting a strict Road Force balance (if that is what you suggest).

I will try to install again, this time cleaning both the face of the hub and the inside face of the contact area of the wheel.

One what surfaces should I be applying anti-seize?
I'll report back.

Anti seize only goes on the inner hub, not on the fasteners. Also - are you using the extended lugs that are provided with the spacers or something else?

You should snug/center the wheel while off the ground and torque into place when on the ground.

[RElias21]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Anti seize only goes on the inner hub, not on the fasteners. Also - are you using the extended lugs that are provided with the spacers or something else?

You should snug/center the wheel while off the ground and torque into place when on the ground.

I do everything as you just said.

Anti-seize on inner hub only;
Proper lugs.
Tighten in air, torque on ground.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by RElias21

I do everything as you just said.

Anti-seize on inner hub only;
Proper lugs.
Tighten in air, torque on ground.

Double-check balancing just to be 100% sure.

[kindafrosty]

I had the same issue with MS spacers but left them on because as you said, the car looks better with them. When I upgraded to 295 PS4S last week, I had to remove the MS spacers so the sidewall wouldn't rub as I'm lowered. Since then, the vibration issue completely disappeared at highway speeds.

I then stacked the spacers and noticed one was not flush with the others, so either something went wrong while on the car, or MS quality control is garbage

[RElias21]

Update:

I did as Tom said above.
I cleaned the inside of the wheel real good including the shaft where the lip of the spacer engages.
But, what I ALSO did (after seeing this somewhere else), is I wrapped the spacer lip with Teflon tape.
This made the fit between the spacer and the wheel so tight that the spacer just stays attached to the wheel. I aligned the spacer and wheel holes. I was actually then able put each wheel and spacer back on the car together as one unit.

Took the car out after and I can say the vibration is 99% gone. I say 99% because I honestly don't remember what the car felt like before. It's been a while trying to work through this vibration issue. At this point, what I feel could just be the standard steering wheel feedback from a sports car OR it could be the difference between standard tire balancing versus road force. Either way, its very negligible and I may only be noticing it because I'm paying so much attention to the matter.


Thanks for your advice Tom.

To be fair, the MS spacers I have were bought used, and the BMS spacers I have on now were having the same issue. So, I don't think the issue was one manufacturer versus the other.

Here is a pic of one wheel and hub to show that they're clean.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

I used to always have vibrations until I did in air incremental TQ then they were always perfect. Especially with good quality like BMS & MS spacers

Clean and lube as Tom mentioned
hand tight all lugs in a star pattern
then with tq wrench do the following in star pattern
25, 50,75,100 then final tq to 105 on the ground
rinse and repeat

If you have vibration then something is wrong.....

[whitstap]

Torque wheel to spec while it is in the air (need something or someone to apply brakes for fronts) this will ensure the spacer is flush in the hub

[EricP3]

I don't think the issue is necessarily with the quality of spacers. I had vibrations with spacers no matter which ones I tried because on the front wheels the spacers did not fit snug enough to where you can freely rotate/spin them on the hub. On my rears, the same spacer fit snug and could not be rotated when it was pressed on the hub.

[RElias21]

Originally Posted by EricP3

I don't think the issue is necessarily with the quality of spacers. I had vibrations with spacers no matter which ones I tried because on the front wheels the spacers did not fit snug enough to where you can freely rotate/spin them on the hub. On my rears, the same spacer fit snug and could not be rotated when it was pressed on the hub.

Originally Posted by horsepower_and_hounds

I used to always have vibrations until I did in air incremental TQ then they were always perfect. Especially with good quality like BMS & MS spacers

Clean and lube as Tom mentioned
hand tight all lugs in a star pattern
then with tq wrench do the following in star pattern
25, 50,75,100 then final tq to 105 on the ground
rinse and repeat

If you have vibration then something is wrong.....

Lol, if that's what I had to do to install spacers correctly, I would def just sell them. That sounds like a nightmare.

Originally Posted by EricP3

I don't think the issue is necessarily with the quality of spacers. I had vibrations with spacers no matter which ones I tried because on the front wheels the spacers did not fit snug enough to where you can freely rotate/spin them on the hub. On my rears, the same spacer fit snug and could not be rotated when it was pressed on the hub.

I doubt spacers could ever consistently be THAT tight. But your point makes me realize that the Teflon tape idea is a real problem solver here.

[Manualm32017]

Hey op congrats on finding out the issue, you mind sharing a photo of the Teflon wrapped lip, have a similar issue, but don't quite understand
Thanks

[RElias21]

Originally Posted by Manualm32017

Hey op congrats on finding out the issue, you mind sharing a photo of the Teflon wrapped lip, have a similar issue, but don't quite understand
Thanks

I ran out of Teflon tape and I did the ones on the car much cleaner than this, but this is what I mean by wrapping the lip of the spacer with Teflon tape.

I presume you could probably also wrap the hub on the car with Teflon tape, too, to make the fit between each component (hub to spacer and spacer to wheel) very tight.